Goodbye Stranger
by brighteyedcat
Summary: EllieJane. Ellie makes an embarrassing first impression with Jane, and attempts to make up for it later at a party. Written for the LJ Degrassi femslash ficathon. Prompt: black coffee.
1. Chapter 1

She could do this. She didn't want to, but she had to now that Paige was off living her own warped version of independence and Marco had made it abundantly clear that he needed some space (from her) so that he could live more independently too. And had Ellie not been so blindsided by the timing of it all, she would have probably agreed with him, but with everything that had been going on under that roof lately, the last thing Ellie wanted was abrupt, forced change. She knew she'd still see Marco sometimes. Whenever he called her between dates or something. But deep down she knew she needed to move on and, well…get a life.

And as it turned out, finding a new house wasn't all that difficult. Ellie started calling around right after reality sank in and even though she wasn't exactly fond of being interviewed over and over again by potential housemates, she ended up being able to choose where and with whom she would live. She liked her chosen house and her room was even a little bigger than her old one, but unpacking her belongings was just depressing. Nothing seemed to look right no matter where she put it and everything reminded her of where she'd been rather than where she was going. After putting away her clothes and leaning her prints against the wall rather than hanging them, Ellie decided to take a break.

Sitting on the front steps, Ellie shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and considered her options. She wanted to go someplace familiar, but school was out so hanging around campus wasn't a very appealing option; however, _since_ school was out, she figured the Dot wouldn't be overrun by all the annoying high school brats that she had once been. Not to mention, she could really use a decent cup of sweet, black coffee and Ellie was of the opinion that no one made a brew quite like the Dot.

Unfortunately, once the bell above the door stopped ringing upon entry, all hopes for familiarity went up in flames. Ellie didn't recognize anyone; not even the barista. Worse still, everyone there seemed to know everyone else at her old stomping grounds…everyone except her. What kind of joke was this? She was a stranger in her new home, a stranger at the Dot, and with every passing day, she was becoming a stranger in her own life, it seemed.

Sighing quietly, Ellie walked up to the counter. She just wanted to get what she came for and get out as soon as possible. When the young barista nodded his head at her, rudely indicating for her to hurry up and place an order as a line was forming behind her, Ellie's pleasant and hopeful smile faded into sheer disappointment. "Just a regular coffee, thanks," she said, looking down and tucking a long strand of her hair behind her ear so she could dig for some cash.

"I just cleaned out the urn and I need to grind a new bag to brew more, so it may be a few minutes," he replied, taking her money and not even giving her the option to retract the order. "Is that all right?" He asked, but only after closing the cash register.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," she said giving him her name before taking a seat in one of the stools by the front windows. _So much for a quick escape_, she thought, sighing.

Glancing around the room, Ellie searched the unfamiliar faces for someone she recognized or at least for someone she might have something in common with. Things were pretty grim until she spotted a cute, unique looking girl reading on the couch. Everyone else in the café seemed to be with someone, but the brunette seemed far too engrossed in whatever she was reading to care about being alone. She barely even glanced away from the pages whenever she took a sip from her coffee mug before placing it back down onto the table in front of her and settling back into the deep cushions of the couch. Ellie struggled to read the title of her book, frustrated that she couldn't quite make it out, but then turned her attention back to the girl that exuded a certain independence and carefree indifference that Ellie could only dream of having.

For a moment, Ellie thought that this girl was someone she almost was at one point, but between her university major teaching her to conform as well as her creeping desire to fit in _somewhere_, her efforts for originality were compromised and she'd submitted to normalcy. As much as she loved journalism, freedom of expression was often lacking where she expected it ought to thrive. Looking at her own reflection in the window and then back over to the girl on the couch, Ellie realized that she was slowly becoming everything she never thought she would be, which only added to her depression.

Swapping quick glances at the newspaper pages scattered all over the counter with extended ones towards the girl on the couch, Ellie studied her with curiosity and conscious interest. She wanted to walk over and just strike up a conversation with her, but she felt far too out of place to have the nerve to do something normal or reasonable like that. Besides, the girl didn't look like she wanted company anyway.

She thought she heard her name for a second, but she was so focused on watching the girl 8in a camo tank and studded bracelets that even her own name passed through her ears without acknowledgment. It wasn't until the brunette lifted her darkly lined eyes from the pages of her book – looking directly at Ellie and knitting her brows in high annoyance – that Ellie remembered on what planet she resided. Looking away from the girl's hot glare, Ellie heard her name echo through the coffee shop again. This time she jumped up to get her coffee, but regrettably glanced over at the brunette one more time, who pursed her lips and widened her eyes even more at Ellie to get her to stop staring at her and mind her own damn business.

It worked. The redhead averted her eyes – her pale cheeks now burning brighter than the sun-kissed ends of her hair – grabbed her coffee, and promptly left the Dot. Rolling her eyes and slouching back into the couch, Jane propped her feet back up and re-balanced the book onto her thighs to continue reading where she'd left off before she'd caught some girl so rudely staring at her.


	2. Chapter 2

As another round of cards began, Jane's attention quickly shot in another direction when she spotted the same redhead that had stared her down at the Dot earlier that afternoon standing only a few feet away from her in the kitchen. Jane couldn't believe it was her, especially since she looked so…_different_ from this afternoon in a fairly short skirt paired with a mesh shirt under a red and black wide-striped top, but it was definitely her. Jane looked down at the two cards in her hand and closed her eyes for a minute to make sure she hadn't somehow dropped acid unbeknownst to her, but when she looked up towards the kitchen again, the girl was still there, flirting and laughing hysterically with a group of guys, hardly noticing that her skirt was sliding up the back of her legs as she leaned over the counter.

"You in, Jane?" The dealer from across the table asked, interrupting her gawking.

She hadn't paid enough attention to know what the bet was or if there even was one yet, but in looking down at her cards again - a Jack of clubs and a three of spades - Jane sighed in defeat and set them onto the table, face down. "I don't think I could ask for worse luck," she joked, standing up from the chair and walking over to the kitchen.

"Jane, you're here!" A male voice yelled out as he grabbed and spun her away from the kitchen. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Jesus, Travis! Walk, much?" She teased, though slightly annoyed that he'd nearly made her trip over herself, not to mention spill the drink in her hand.

"I got your tickets…" he said, flashing her a smile.

"Shut up!" She exclaimed, shoving him hard enough that he fell back a few steps. "Holy shit, I can't believe it. You really got 'em?"

"I did," he nodded proudly.

"You're totally amazing, dude," she said with a wide grin. "So how much do I owe you?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. My treat. I kind of owe you anyway," he shrugged, running a hand through his scraggly brown hair.

"Uh, _no_…you don't," she said scrunching her brow at him. "Just tell me how much," she added while reaching into her pocket to pay him.

"Zero dollars. Seriously," he pressed. "I have to go out to my car to get them, so meet me out front in a few, okay?" He said, giving her shoulders a light squeeze before heading out the front door to get her highly anticipated concert tickets.

Overjoyed that her luck was changing, Jane clasped her hands together excitedly for a second before heading back towards the slightly drunk redhead in the kitchen. She could at least introduce herself while Travis retrieved her tickets.

Meanwhile, Ellie pressed the edge of her 4th, 5th, or maybe her 6th drink to her lips and sucked down two long, thirsty sips. She quickly learned that not having Marco around to chaperone her all the time had several benefits. Just because she went to an _occasional_ party and had an _occasional_ drink, didn't mean she was destined for genetic alcoholism. She was just being a normal university student, wasn't she? Fuck if she cared about being normal anyway. That's not what tonight was about and why was she _still_ thinking about Marco? She tipped the cup back again and took another long drink.

"So are you stalking me or something?" Jane asked, leaning onto the counter beside the familiar stranger.

Ellie gasped when she recognized the bright brown eyes that stared back at her as her drink accidentally slipped from her hands. Too late to catch it, both Ellie and Jane jumped out of the way, shielding themselves with their hands as the cup hit the counter, spilling beer out in every direction. Ellie yelped louder than necessary when drops of beer splashed back onto her and Jane couldn't stop herself from laughing at her for being so dramatic about it.

"Oh man…alcohol abuse," Jane commented wistfully while watching the alcohol drip down the countertop and onto the floor.

"Goddamn it," Ellie sulked when she saw what a mess she'd made while at the same time processing the fact that the girl she'd seen this afternoon was somehow standing next to her again tonight. She grabbed a handful of paper towels behind her and covered her mouth to suppress her giggling. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Jane, who had decided to kneel down to the floor in order to help Ellie clean up. "I didn't mean to…" she paused, grabbing hold of Jane's knee to gain some balance when the room started spinning around her. "I didn't mean to be so loud. You just scared the crap out of me."

"I can see that," Jane smirked. "Are you all right?" She asked, helping Ellie stand up and then throwing out the soiled paper towels for her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said brushing herself off. "Did my drink get on you?" Ellie asked, looking over Jane to make sure she hadn't made even more of a horrible first impression than she already had. Fortunately, she seemed okay. "I'm _so_ sorry."

"Don't worry about it; it's cool," she answered. "Uh, let's try this again. I think for the…_third_ time today?" She said with a quirky, sideways grin. "I'm Jane," she said, offering her hand as both an introduction and a peace treaty.

"Ellie Nash," she replied, enthusiastically taking Jane's hand into her own and shaking it.

"Yeah, I kind of got that," Jane chuckled, casually leaning back onto the kitchen counter and taking a sip of her beer.

"I'm sorry, you know me?" Ellie asked, confused and still dizzy as hell.

"No, but I seem to remember the guy at the Dot asking for an 'Ellie' quite a few times before this girl who looks almost _exactly_ like you sprung up to get her coffee faster than if she'd just been stung by a wasp."

"Oh, right," she replied sheepishly, blushing. "Well in my defense, it certainly _felt_ like I'd been stung by a wasp with that look you gave me."

"You were _kind of_ staring at me," Jane pointed out while teasingly squinting her eyes at Ellie.

"Yeah, I know. I'm _really_ sorry about that. I usually make a much better first impression than this, I swear," she replied, trying to think of a single occasion where that was actually true. Nothing came to mind. _Fuck_.

"It's okay, dude. Truce," she said, petting Ellie's red nail-polished hand. "Hey, I have to meet a friend of mine out front, but I need a refill first. You want to meet me outside in a sec?" she offered, interested in getting to know this Ellie girl.

"Yeah, okay," Ellie agreed. She was guilty of a lot of embarrassing faux pas in less than 12 hours but thankfully it seemed like Jane was going to give her an opportunity to make up for them. Despite her first impression at the Dot, Jane seemed pretty laid back and that was a change of pace that she could definitely get used to after dealing with Marco…or worse yet, Paige.

Before heading outside, Ellie looked down at her empty cup and pouted a little that she didn't get to actually drink much of its contents. She supposed that was probably for the better, since she'd clearly had more than enough to drink for one night; although moments later, Jane caught up with Ellie outside and handed her a full cup of beer to replace the one that she'd spilled all over the kitchen.

"If you don't want it, just leave it there and I'll get to it eventually," Jane said as she hoisted herself onto the brick ledge of the house's front porch to get comfortable. Knowing Travis, it could be a while before he showed up with those tickets.

Meanwhile, guilt was a visitor that would not leave Ellie alone no matter how much she tried to drink it away, and being offered another drink only made it worse. She nervously looked down at the full cup of alcohol and hesitated, but only for a minute, before taking a sip, hoping that the wiser side of her brain would cease to exist any minute now. She wanted to have a good time without consideration for whether or not her actions had undesirable consequences. School was out, and between living without Marco and being promoted to editor of the Core, she was beginning several new and scary chapters in her life. She deserved a night of carefree irresponsibility.

"Thanks," she said finally, looking over to Jane and smiling.

It was a lot nicer outside. A bit humid, but the warm summer night and clear sky were a nice break from the oversexed students "dancing" to obnoxious music or playing beer pong inside. Ellie leaned back against the bricks and turned her attention to the extremely drunk students making asses of themselves out on the front lawn. She laughed a bit at their stupidity, thankful that she at least wasn't _that_ drunk.

"So what were you reading?" Ellie asked, lifting her eyes to meet with the endless darkness of Jane's. Leaning her elbows on the ledge, she continued. "I was trying to make out the title, but I…" her voice trailed off. She closed her eyes tightly and looked away, wanting to disappear again, no matter how interesting and forgiving this girl seemed to be.

Jane laughed quietly. What a load of crap. Her book was the last thing Ellie had been caught staring at and Ellie knew it, but she wasn't about to embarrass the girl anymore than she already was, especially since she was the one more liable to be caught staring now. Without a doubt, Jane definitely preferred this darker and less conservative version of Ellie, and the girl's jumpy awkwardness only added to her appeal. "And I Don't Want to Live This Life," she answered.

Ellie sighed, looking down at the drink between her hands. "Heh, me neither."

Jane laughed, nudging Ellie's shoulder with her knee. "Well, I hope you have it at least a _little_ better than this girl. Nancy Spungen was _fucked_," she added between chuckles.

Ellie perked up a bit, having gotten Jane to laugh. Maybe this girl didn't think she was a total train wreck after all. "Well there aren't any books about me yet, so I'm betting her story of survival is a bit more compelling than mine," she said tucking a few fallen strands of her hair behind her ear. Securing her palms onto the bricks behind her, Ellie jumped up and wiggled back onto the ledge to sit beside Jane.

"I'm not sure if I'd call it survival," Jane said, setting her drink down to help Ellie onto the wall. "It was written after Nancy was found murdered."

"Ok wow. I _definitely_ don't want to have anything in common with her now," Ellie replied, unconsciously taking one sip after another from her drink while looking down at her bare legs as they swung back and forth against the wall to keep her eyes off of Jane. Fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, Ellie tried to remember the last time she'd worn this skirt. It had always been one of her favorites, but she supposed she never had an occasion to wear it anymore given the relaxed atmosphere of school and the snooty conservative crap she had to wear for interviews and such. Still, it felt good to get in touch with a neglected side of herself again tonight.

"Yeah, it's pretty intense, but it's a really good memoir-biography kind of thing. I don't know; I like it," Jane said with a shrug.

"I'll have plenty of time on my hands this summer and I'm always looking for something worthwhile to read, so I'll see if I can find it somewhere," Ellie said, blushing a little for no reason when she caught Jane's eyes. She wasn't sure where this awkward infatuation was coming from, other than maybe her inability to believe in coincidences, but she also had a feeling it had something to do with her unfinished business with Paige. Or maybe it was just the combination of too much alcohol and someone pretty to look at in close proximity. Not that any of these things were very good excuses, but they were easier to accept than the alternative. "So are you taking any summer classes?"

Laughing, "I don't even go here," she responded, both pleased and thankful that she wasn't coming off as the out of place high school kid at a college party. "I just know one of the guys that live here. Travis?"

Ellie squinted her eyes and cocked her head to the side, pondering the name for a second. "I'm not sure if I've met him or not…which sounds awful since it's probably his party," she laughed. "Oh well," she shrugged. Looking at the cup in her hand and seeing that it was half empty, Ellie consciously told herself to slow down.

Jane snickered, "I wouldn't worry about it. He's probably pretty far gone by now anyway. But I'll introduce you to him if he ever gets his punk ass over here," she said, starting to think that Travis had bullshitted her about those tickets. "Not that I'm in any kind of hurry," she added. Jane twisted one of her onyx rings around her finger a few times in an attempt to ignore the fact that Ellie blushed a little every time they made eye contact. She was used to people being nervous around her, but this was different and she didn't quite know what to make of it.

"Me neither, this is nice," Ellie agreed. She knew she could have gone back inside to hang out with her roommate or join in on another stupid drinking game, but Ellie was starting to prefer Jane's more relaxed, no-expectations kind of company. She considered asking Jane to go for a walk with her around campus, but thought better of the idea. She wouldn't be able to handle the uneven brick sidewalks anyway.

"So if you don't know Travis, are you friends with one of the other guys that live here?" Jane asked.

"No, one of my new roommates, Chelsea, invited me. I didn't really know anyone else here until tonight. Well, except for maybe you," she added playfully nudging Jane's arm with her elbow.

"Heh, yeah," Jane snickered. "I think I've met Chelsea a couple of times. Long blonde hair, a little taller than us, blue eyes?" She asked, tossing her empty cup onto the porch with the others.

"Sounds like her so far," Ellie nodded, wondering if her roommate had left the party already. It was still kind of early, but she hadn't seen her in a while…not that she'd been looking for her.

"Yeah, she's kind of cute too…but only in an annoying, bubbly kind of way," Jane added, sliding back to lean against the corner post behind her, propping one foot up while letting the other hang over the side of the ledge.

Ellie's laugh echoed into the plastic cup that was perched on her lips as she swallowed the last drop from within. Lowering the cup from her mouth, she tossed it in the same direction as Jane's empty cup. "Yeah, she is pretty, I guess," she said cautiously. "But she's –" Ellie stopped herself, a light bulb igniting above her head. "Oh man…" she thought aloud, shoulders sinking when she realized how many similarities Chelsea and Paige shared.

Still listening to Ellie, Jane pulled a few leaves off the tree beside her and started stripping them apart, one vein at a time. "What?" She asked when Ellie didn't continue right away.

"Well, now that I'm thinking about it, she kind of reminds me of my old roommate," Ellie confessed.

"I take it that's a bad thing," she said, brushing some of the remaining bits of torn apart leaves off of her jeans.

"Generally speaking…yes," Ellie smirked, squirming uncomfortably in her skirt. She could feel the bricks starting to mold prickly asymmetrical patterns onto the back of her thighs, but she didn't want to stand up either. "She was my sworn enemy in high school, but somehow we ended up living together for about a year, along with a mutual friend."

"Sounds fun," Jane winced. Of course, her high school enemy was her own brother and she was pretty much forced to put up with him for the rest of her life so she didn't have _that_ much sympathy.

"You're telling me. She could be really sweet sometimes, but she could also be pretty fucking intolerable," she explained to Jane as she considered the countless ways that Paige had made her life more painful than necessary over the years. "For one thing, she called me Eleanor. _Eleanor_, Jane. Do I _look_ like an Eleanor to you?" She asked, dropping her face and glaring at Jane over the bridge of her nose.

Jane snickered at how bent out of shape Ellie was getting over something so trivial and harmless. "Nah, you look more like an Ellie to me," she said, answering the redhead's rhetorical question by telling her what she clearly wanted to hear.

"_Exactly_," the redhead replied a little belligerently. "_God_, she really knew how to get under my skin," Ellie added, pulling the sleeves of her mesh shirt down to cover the backs of her hands.

"Apparently she can even when she's not around," Jane replied with a wink.

"Ugh, I'm sorry," Ellie apologized, even though the thought of Paige was still undeniably annoying. Putting her hands back into her lap, Ellie sat quietly with her eyes down and started picking away at the red polish on her nails, unable to stop thinking about Paige even though she really wanted a change in subject. She knew that their kiss meant nothing, but she also knew she'd secretly wanted to do that since Paige had come out. She just wished the circumstances had been a little more…meaningful. Eventually, she felt Jane bump her leg.

"She's not here, you know. Don't let her ruin your night," Jane suggested.

"Yeah, I know," Ellie said, reaching over to squeeze Jane's leather and spike-clad wrist that was draped over her knee. Abruptly feeling as though she'd crossed some kind of unspoken physical boundary with Jane, Ellie quickly withdrew her hands and went back to nervously picking away at her nail polish. "I don't–", she started, unsure of what she wanted to say and how. "Our friendship–". _That doesn't sound right. Paige and I aren't really friends, are we? Or maybe I'm just too busy holding grudges to be able to accept the fact that we are friends_. "Acquaintanceship? I don't know. Whatever it was, it was complicated," she said, throwing herself out there as safely as possible.

"Or you could just be honest about it," Jane said, frankly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ellie asked, furrowing her brows. She suddenly felt like they weren't on the same page. Or maybe they were, but Ellie wasn't prepared to talk about this subject with a total stranger.

"Come on, Ellie. It was _'complicated?'_" Jane smirked while making air quotes with her fingers. "Please," she rolled her eyes, snickering.

"I didn't mean it like _that_, Jane," she tried desperately to explain herself, but failed miserably. "Well okay, so maybe this one time," she confessed, shooting a missile straight through her own argument, "but –"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Jane said, laughing and dismissing Ellie's attempt to explain. Before Ellie could revise her defense to counter whatever conclusions Jane had made about her and Paige, Jane spotted Travis practically falling out of the front door to join them. "Oh awesome," she joked sarcastically to herself when she noticed how stumbling drunk Travis was. "Please excuse anything that's about to happen," she whispered to Ellie with a smirk as Travis made a wobbly approach with three full shot glasses tinkling precariously in his hands. "Dude, where have you been?"

"Oh man. You wouldn't believe it," he started, slightly out of breath and setting the shots down on the ledge to prevent any more of the alcohol from spilling out.

"I probably would, but spare me the details anyway," she replied.

Travis laughed at her, shaking his head and patting her leg. "She can be so mean sometimes, can't she?" He asked Ellie.

Ellie snickered a little, glad that she wasn't the only one that Jane unleashed her sharp glares and sarcastic wit upon. She squinted at Travis while slightly turning her hand over and under like a see-saw.

"Some new friend you are!" Jane said, snatching Ellie just below the ribs with her hand and clawing her.

"Hey, it's true!" Ellie yelped, jumping back from Jane's attack.

"See what I mean? She's brutal," he agreed with Ellie. "But I love Jane," he said looking over at her with softer eyes.

"Jesus, how drunk _are_ you?" She asked, feigning disgust when he drifted closer to embrace her. "Yeah, okay. _Enough_, Velcro," she said, gently shoving him off of her. "And the tickets are where?"

"You'll get them, I promise," he said to calm her down. "First, who's your new friend?" He asked, blatantly checking out Ellie.

"Ellie, Travis. Travis, Ellie," she answered, blandly.

"Nice to meet you," he said in an overtly polite manner to counter Jane's bitter sarcasm, while handing both girls an overflowing shot glass.

"Same," Ellie nodded with a smile, unsure how she felt about being offered yet another drink – and a shot, no less, though at this point the damage had already been done so what the hell. She almost looked forward to her hangover tomorrow if it meant that her head would be spinning in amusement tonight.

"Cheers, ladies," he said lifting his glass to meet with theirs.

"Hold up, Casanova," Jane said slamming on the breaks and hovering her palm over Ellie's shot glass. "What is this and who made it?"

"I made it of course and it's a redheaded slut – no offense," he added jokingly to Ellie.

"Whoa, who said I was a _slut_?!" Ellie laughed, agape.

"Well, you are with Jane," he shrugged.

"What?!" Jane exclaimed, kicking him. "I should throw this at you, but…" she said winking at Ellie while raising her shot glass back to the space between them for a toast. The three of them downed the shot almost in sync and Jane shook her head from the sugary punch at the end, waiting for it to pass. "Damn you really do make the best shots, Trav."

"Thank you, thank you," he said collecting the glasses from them and bowing to her slightly. "And now that you've indulged me…" he began, pulling out a crinkled envelope from his pocket and waving it in front of Jane to tease her. "Your tickets."

She reached for the envelope, but stopped to prevent herself from falling off the ledge. "Come on, man," she pleaded.

"All right, all right," he said, holding the envelope out in front of Jane's face again. But the second she went to grab it, he snapped them out of her reach and gently handed them over to Ellie instead. "Have fun J," he said giving her thigh a light squeeze before stepping away. Before Travis disappeared back into the house, Jane yelled out a thank you to which he answered with a quick wave over his shoulder.

"Wow, The _Hives_?" Ellie squealed, unable to contain her excitement after peeking into the envelope to see what the tickets were for. "I thought that show was sold out," she said, reluctantly handing Jane her tickets.

"It is," Jane answered, putting the envelope into her wallet for safekeeping. "That's what makes Travis so awesome. Well, most of the time," she added rolling her eyes.

"I don't know, that shot was pretty incredible," Ellie disagreed.

"Oh yeah, he's a fantastic bartender, but he's a little, uh…touchy," she said scrunching up her nose uncomfortably.

Ellie laughed quietly, "Did you guys used to date or something?" She asked, curious.

"God no," Jane replied quickly, shuddering at the thought.

"Oh come on," Ellie remarked with a teasing shove. "You know he's probably kind of hot when he's not completely wasted."

Grabbing Ellie's arm to press her point, Jane pleaded, "Please stop before you give me nightmares for a month." Hopping off the wall, Jane turned around to help Ellie down as well.

"Okay, okay," she said, rolling her eyes at Jane. Ellie gingerly took Jane's hand and jumped off the wall, hoping that her skirt wouldn't fly up, get snagged on the bricks, or any other embarrassing thing she could imagine happening had Jane not offered to help her.

"So you're a fan then?" Jane asked. "Of the Hives, I mean. Not Travis; everyone likes him."

Laughing, Ellie nodded, "Yes. Kind of rabidly so. I'm jealous of whoever your date is," she pouted, linking her hands around Jane's arm.

Lest guilt swallow her whole with the adorable pout Ellie just shot at her, Jane's real date was the last person she wanted to think about right now. "Well I'll let you know if he can't go, but I can't make any promises," she replied.

"I wouldn't expect you to. But thanks," she said, letting go of Jane, but following her towards the front steps of the house. "Hey, if you're leaving, would it be too much trouble to ask you to walk me back to my house? I just moved in and I'm not really familiar with my new neighborhood."

"So…if you get mugged, you'd rather not get mugged alone, is that what you're saying?"

"Maybe," Ellie laughed. "Especially after that last drink, I'm really in no shape to walk across campus alone."

"Fair enough," Jane nodded while leading Ellie down the front steps and out onto the lawn that had become sprinkled with empty plastic cups and the occasional body.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ugh, I feel like we've been walking for _days_," Ellie whined, slowing her pace down to a crawl and finally to a complete stop in the middle of the park.

"And whose fault is that?!" Jane asked, amused by Ellie's overt melodrama.

"Hey, I _just_ took a wrong turn," she said, defending herself. Grabbing Jane's hand so that she could steady herself, Ellie tucked a foot behind herself so she could sit down in the grass.

Jane smirked over her shoulder, "And _how_ is that not your fault?"

"All right, all right. You win," she conceded, but then bit her tongue while jamming the heel of her boot against the back of Jane's knees.

Crashing to the ground, Jane threw a pinecone at Ellie, who wasn't even trying to hold back her laughter. Ducking out of the way from the flying pinecone, Ellie smugly spat out her tongue at Jane. Shaking her head at Ellie, Jane leant up against a tree. "So you _do_ know where we're going now, right?" she asked, cautiously looking over Ellie's subtle curves that were accentuated by her delicate, but snug top. Cute would have been an understatement. Cheating would have been another.

"Yeah," Ellie answered quietly as she looked down into her lap and smiled, feeling her cheeks flush red from seeing Jane look at her in a way that only guys had before. She was flattered, but she didn't quite know how to respond without embarrassing herself or Jane. Sure to say the wrong thing, she opted out on words but managed to gather enough nerve to sit closer to her. "I'm _pretty_ sure my house is only three blocks away once we get to that building over there," Ellie said pointing over to one of many dark campus buildings across the park.

"_Pretty_ sure?" Jane asked, raising a brow and glancing at her from the corner of her eye.

"Yes," Ellie taunted, shoving her lightly. "And then sleep. Mmmmm…sleep," she sighed, dropping her head onto Jane's shoulder and draping an arm over her stomach to pull her close. The second she closed her eyes to rest for a minute, Ellie jolted back awake to stop the world from spinning around her. Nuzzling Jane's shoulder with her cheek and moaning quietly to get her head on straight again, she took a deep breath and settled in, but kept her eyes open this time.

Jane hesitated for more than a few moments, both shocked and uncomfortable with this kind of sudden affection from another girl. But she quickly dismissed Ellie as being nothing more than an impulsive drunk girl and so she tentatively wrapped an arm around her, petting her gently. "_Please_ don't pass out, Ellie," she begged. "I can't carry you across the park, through the trees, and down three blocks to a house that _might_ or might not be yours."

"I'm not going to pass out," she giggled. But she didn't budge either. Instead, she hooked her fingers through the belt loops of Jane's jeans and pulled her closer. "I'm just a little dizzy from that shot and need a minute before we keep going, okay?" She asked, looking up at the brunette. Her reasoning was flawed, but at least she wasn't entirely lying. When Jane smirked at her with a reassuring nod, Ellie laid her head back down onto the other girl's chest. Jane smelled like the soft, smoky leather that was bound around her wrists and hips. The somewhat androgynous scent was pleasing to Ellie and she pulled Jane even closer so she could breathe more of her in. "Thanks," she whispered after a minute.

Despite being beyond tipsy, Ellie was fully aware that her fascination with Jane was a little more than the so-called "nothing" she felt with Paige. Aside from the girl's sarcasm and cool confidence, Jane clearly had a darker side to her that Paige lacked and that was something Ellie found immensely attractive. The darkest thing Ellie knew about Paige was the little black dress hanging up in her closet. Jane, on the other hand, was an endless mystery; especially since she was so careful about keeping the details about her life under lock and key from Ellie, which both frustrated and tantalized her. Nudging Jane's hair out of the way with her nose, Ellie slowly pressed her lips to Jane's neck and kissed her.

Jane didn't have much time to process what Ellie was doing or what it meant, but she did know that Ellie's behavior had crept far beyond Jane's comfort zone and she was no longer able to dismiss it as mere drunken antics. Shifting, she tried to get out of what was sure to turn into an unforgivable situation, but before she was able to move very far, Ellie reached her hand around Jane's neck and pulled her down into a kiss. When their lips first touched, Jane's eyes froze open. Ellie had dared to kiss her and she was so stunned by it that she couldn't move despite the urge to stop her. But a split second later, Jane found herself so taken by the gentleness of the other girl's kiss that she _couldn't_ pull away. Swiftly spearing the angel on her shoulder, Jane allowed her instincts to kick in and timidly closed her eyes to offer Ellie a deeper kiss. Unfortunately, before Jane could take it further, Ellie pulled away, shook her head, and averted her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said abruptly letting go of Jane and scooting away from her. "I –" She had no explanation. Her head was spinning, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol or the kiss. Either way, she couldn't think straight and she was nervous to the point where she could feel her hands trembling. She couldn't deal with the fact that she'd just kissed a girl…and meant to do it. She didn't want to believe that she'd done such a thing, and desperately wanted to blame everything on being drunk, but she knew that wasn't true. She'd kissed Paige when she was stone-sober and she didn't even _like_ Paige.

Worse still, Jane was being painfully silent, which was sending Ellie into a tailspin of guilt and regret. Closing her eyes, Ellie accepted the fact that she was attracted to Jane for reasons she both could and couldn't explain. Not that any of that mattered now. One look at Jane spoke volumes: she was clearly offended and absolutely _not_ open to talk about what had just happened, no matter how badly Ellie wanted to.

In her silence, Jane was flustered by how quickly Ellie threw away what she'd thought was the beginning of an amazing kiss. She was disheartened by the rejection and adding insult to injury, Ellie tried to erase that it ever happened by apologizing for it! "Maybe we should go," she suggested, scooting away from the tree trunk to stand up.

Ellie knew she wouldn't be able to sleep nor would she be able to forgive herself if she let this issue go unaddressed for all eternity so in a rare moment of bravery, she stopped her. "Wait," Ellie said, grabbing Jane's wrist and pulling her back down beside her. "I'm really sorry, Jane," she said in an attempt to redeem herself for what seemed like the billionth time that day.

"Look, it's really not a big deal," Jane said with a smirk while running her fingers through her hair to hide the fact that what she'd just said was a total lie. Her kissing Ellie was monumentally a big deal, though not at all for the reasons Ellie probably thought it was.

"So you weren't offended?" Ellie asked, her mood shifting while trying not to speculate as to what Jane meant by that. She was dying for a concrete indication of Jane's true feelings, but all she was getting was composed indifference and she couldn't stand it anymore.

"It would take a lot more than that to offend me," Jane laughed.

"Oh," Ellie said, unconsciously focusing her attention on Jane's lips while licking her own in heavy anticipation of another kiss, but too cowardly to do anything about it. When she finally looked up, she was immediately captured by Jane's piercing gaze and the look in her eyes made Ellie's stomach drop. Against her better judgment, Ellie risked rejection and drifted closer to Jane while fearfully keeping her lips mere centimeters away, just in case.

Jane blinked once, slowly, before looking back at Ellie with a snicker. "You like to press your luck, don't you?" She asked, though without moving away.

"Something like that," she whispered shyly. Her soft, hazel eyes sparked the moment she felt Jane's hand on her back and as hot blood torpedoed through her veins, Ellie closed the space between them and kissed her. Letting out a relieved sigh when Jane returned the kiss, Ellie's eyelashes fluttered from the intoxicating contact and she lifted her hand to hold Jane's cheek, kissing her again.

Jane gently nipped at Ellie's lips, smiling at the provocative taste of vanilla that had transferred onto her tongue from the redhead's lip gloss. She asked Ellie for more by bringing her hands up to cup the girl's face while teasingly licking at her rose-painted lips. More of what, she wasn't sure. She was clueless as to what Ellie – or any girl, really – wanted from her, but right now she didn't care. All she knew was that kissing Ellie was unlike kissing any guy she'd ever dated and she didn't want to stop. Everything about it made her head reel in uncontrollable curiosity and she wanted as much of it as Ellie would allow her.

Having been given a second chance, Ellie gradually crawled onto Jane's lap before pushing her to the ground. She wanted to experience everything with Jane so desperately that it scared her. Her fear was matched only by her desire, but with every kiss, every touch from Jane's hesitant fingers running up her back and down her sides, desire quickly broke away for a win. Ellie moaned into Jane's mouth as the girl's kisses gradually became more confident and lustful, satisfying every craving Ellie had for her. She twirled her fingers into Jane's hair and craned her neck as sparks shot straight up her spine from every sporadic, vicious pinch from Jane's teeth upon her neck. "Oh God, Jane," Ellie whispered.

Smirking at Ellie's reaction, Jane traced a line along the girl's collarbone with her fingers before curving them over her shoulder and down her spine until she was holding Ellie at the small, hollowed curve in her back. Sliding her hand under Ellie's shirt to run her fingertips up one vertebra at a time, Jane felt Ellie mimic her actions against her; only Ellie's hand smoothed its way over Jane's stomach, rib cage.

Ellie's small fingers burrowed their way up under Jane's tank until they timidly cupped her breast. Jane's careful silence was steadily replaced by quiet sighs as Ellie's fingers grazed along the skin beneath the woven fabric of her bra, teasing Jane while her lips kissed her shoulders and chest. Encouraged by Jane arching into her hand, Ellie straddled her and gently rocked her hips against the girl beneath her, groaning from her own unique sensory overload. She lifted Jane up into a kiss, pushing her tongue into the girl's mouth and allowing Jane to pull her in deeper. Her head was spinning again, but this time she knew it was because of their kiss. She had no idea what was on the other end of this rabbit hole she'd willingly fallen into, but she couldn't wait to find out.

Jane's hand instinctively dropped to smooth the soft skin of Ellie's thigh that was sinking deeper between her legs. She felt the heat within her start to match that of Ellie's that she could feel through her clothes. She was tempted beyond comprehension to throw caution to the wind and just touch her, but she knew they both deserved better than this. Scattering her fingers and then pushing them up Ellie's thigh and under her skirt, Jane lifted her short, black eyelashes to capture Ellie's attention.

"Didn't you say that you had a house around here somewhere?" She asked carefully to make sure that this was what Ellie really wanted.

"Yes," Ellie snickered, collapsing a little on top of Jane and hiding in her hair. "Are you saying you want to come in with me?" She asked, kissing her neck while grabbing Jane's hand and pushing it further up her skirt.

"Depends," she played along, sliding her fingertips along the seam of Ellie's panties and smiling when a quiet gasp escaped from Ellie. "Am I invited?" She asked, dropping her lips to just below Ellie's ear and kissing her until her soft mews shifted into frustrated moans. Smirking, "I'll take that as a yes."


	4. Chapter 4

A flash of lightning outside Ellie's window was swiftly followed by thunder that was so loud that it shook the house. Angry from being so abruptly forced back into the land of the living, Ellie looked at the alarm clock in front of her. The blinking red digits told her it was time to get up, but her darkly shrouded room was contradicting the clock, telling her it couldn't be a second past 3 AM. Shifting in bed, Ellie turned to see if Jane was awake or not, but quickly realized that Jane wasn't even in bed with her anymore. She shot up quickly – a throbbing pain shooting through her skull the second she did so – and hastily glanced around her bedroom, but she was gone. Ellie looked for any sign that Jane had extended her the courtesy like a note or something; _some_ indication that she hadn't been totally used last night, but there was nothing to be found. All of Jane's clothes and jewelry were gone, leaving nothing behind but Ellie herself.

Ellie collapsed back into her bed and yanked the covers over her head to hide. She'd never done anything like this in her life before. She could have expected something like this from a guy at a party, but she _never_ imagined that the first girl she chose to be intimate with would ditch her the morning after. She felt dirty, used, and undeniably hurt. She sulked under the covers for a long while, willing her splitting headache and overwhelming sense of shame to go away to no avail. She drifted back to sleep a few times, but every time she felt the heavy blanket of slumber consume her, she was shaken awake by another crash of lighting outside. When it appeared that sleep, forgiveness, and a hangover-free day all weren't going to happen, Ellie made her way into the shower to face another miserable fucking day.

This was going to warrant a phone call to Marco, she thought. There was no one else she would feel comfortable talking to about this. He would know what to say and he might even be able to help explain how this had happened to her. Of course, telling him about Jane also meant that she'd have to tell him that she'd drank like a fish the night before, which she knew he would be upset about – Hell, _she_ was upset about it – but being rejected the morning after hurt a lot more than falling off the wagon for one night.

After half-heartedly putting herself together and tying her wet hair back into a messy bun that stuck out in every direction, Ellie walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to make some coffee. Before she even got to the counter, she saw that her roommate had beat her to it and was cleaning up after making herself a real breakfast; the kind that Paige used to make when she was in a particularly good mood…or when she wanted something.

"Morning," Ellie mumbled, walking over to the cupboards and pulling out one of her favorite mugs.

"Morning," Chelsea replied with a knowing smirk while sliding the sugar down towards Ellie. "Do you want some of this breakfast? There's still plenty left."

It smelled amazing and Ellie really didn't want to be rude to her new housemate, but she also honestly didn't have much of an appetite. Maybe if Jane hadn't turned out to be such a bitch she would have been a little more tempted to take up on Chelsea's offer of free, home-cooked food. "Thanks, but I'm good with coffee for now."

"Suit yourself," Chelsea said making a plate for Ellie anyway, covering it, and then putting it into the refrigerator for her. "In case you change your mind later," she offered with a shrug.

"Thanks," Ellie said, smiling a bit.

Chelsea returned to the sink and continued to wash the rest of the dishes from the morning. "So I take it you had a good time last night?" She asked Ellie with a wink over her shoulder.

Ellie squirmed in her chair uncomfortably. It was clear that ground rules hadn't been established between them yet and discussing anything of this nature was _definitely_ out of the question. "Yeah, I guess so," she deflected, taking a sip of her coffee before looking over to watch the rain throw itself against the windows.

Catching the hint in Ellie's voice, Chelsea busied herself with the dishes, drying each one by hand before replacing them into the cupboards. "Oh, before I forget," she said reaching for an envelope on the counter and tossing it to Ellie. "That was in the mailbox for you this morning," she said, drying her hands with a towel and then walking back to her room.

Ellie looked down at the envelope. Her name was written neatly in small caps, but the ink had bled out a bit from the rain seeping into the mailbox. She didn't recognize the handwriting, but she slipped a finger under the seal to open it anyway, hoping it was from Jane. Reaching inside, her hopes were confirmed when she found one of Jane's tickets to The Hives with a post-it note stuck to it, the writing as uniquely perfect as her name had been on the front of the envelope:

"I'm sorry I had to leave so early this morning. Hope you're still interested in going. –J"

Ellie sighed back into her chair, grinning from ear to ear and letting the hand that held onto the ticket fall into her lap. Closing her eyes for a moment to take the weight of this in, Ellie felt a refreshing sense of both relief and anticipation wash over her. Now she couldn't _wait_ to tell Marco about last night, but she also knew she needed to talk to Jane first. Taking her mug of black coffee with her, Ellie walked back up the stairs with a little more bounce in her step so that she could call Jane to accept the ticket as well as the promise of a second date.


End file.
